Combination terminal wiring device

ABSTRACT

A FEMALE ELECTRICAL OUTLET, SUCH AS A STANDARD DUPLEX WALL RECEPTCLE, PROVIDE WITH QUICK-WIRING TERMINALS AND CONVENTIONAL SCREW-TYPE WIRING TERMINALS, THIS IS ACCOMPLISHED BY PLACING THE QUICK-WIRING TERMINAL, IN THE FORM OF A FLAT PIECE OF SPRING METAL, ON THE BOTTOM INSIDE SURFACE OF A REGULAR TERMINAL POCKET OR CHAMBER PROVIDED IN THE BASE PORTION OF THE INSULATING RECEPTACLE HOUSING THE SPRING METAL IS PROVIDED WITH A WIRE GRIPPING OR CLAMPING EDGE DISPOSES IMMEDIATELY ABOVE AN OPENING PROVIDED IN THE BOTTOM WALL STRUCTURE OF THE BASE PORTION THEREBY PROVIDING QUICK-WIRING ACCESS TO THE QUICK WIRE TERMINAL. THE QUICK-WIRING TERMINAL IS HELD IN PLACE IN THE TERMINAL POCKET BY A CONVENTIONAL SCREW-TYPE TERMINAL STRUCTURE DISPOSED IN THE POCKET AND OVER THE SPRING METAL CLAMP.

Jan. 12, 1971 c, SMITH 3,555,492

COMBINATION TERMINAL WIRING DEVICE Original Filed March 16, 1967 INVENTOR Clarence M Smith ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,555,492 COMBINATION TERMINAL WIRING DEVICE Clarence M. Smith, Trumbull, Conn., assignor to Westinghouse Electric Corporation, Pittsburgh, Pa., a corporation of Pennsylvania Continuation of application Ser. No. 623,653, Mar. 16, 1967. This application Nov. 13, 1969, Ser. No. 876,388 Int. Cl. H01r 9/08 US. Cl. 339-95 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A female electrical outlet, such as a standard duplex wall receptacle, provided with quick-wiring terminals and conventional screw-type wiring terminals. This is accomplished by placing the quick-wiring terminal, in the form of a fiat piece of spring metal, on the bottom inside surface of a regular terminal pocket or chamber provided in the base portion of the insulating receptacle housing. The spring metal is provided with a wire gripping or clamping edge disposed immediately above an opening provided in the bottom wall structure of the base portion thereby providing quick-wiring access to the quick wire terminal. The quick-wiring terminal is held in place in the terminal pocket by a conventional screw-type terminal structure disposed in the pocket and over the spring metal clamp.

This application is a continuation of application Ser. No. 623,653, filed Mar. 16, 1967, now abandoned.

The present invention relates generally to female electrical receptacles and particularly to duplex wall receptacles having both quick-wiring and conventional screwtype terminal means.

Presently, electrical receptacle devices are of the type providing back or side wiring with a threaded terminal and screw, or of the type having spring biased wire clamping means or terminals. Heretofore, these two types of wire connecting means have not been combined in a receptacle so as to afford an economical, compact structure providing the wiring facility of both types.

It is therefore an object of the invention to provide such a facility in an economical, compact manner without substantial modification of existing standard receptacles.

Another object of the invention is to provide a simple and inexpensive quick-wiring device employing a standard electrical receptacle having conventional screw-type terminal means.

These and other objects and advantages are accomplished by use of a thin, flat piece of spring metal disposed on the bottom inside surface of a regular terminal pocket or chamber provided in the insulating base portion of a standard insulating receptacle housing. The spring metal piece is provided with a wire clamping edge portion disposed over an opening provided in the bottom wall of the base portion thereby providing quick wiring access to the metal piece (clamp) and clamping edge. The metal piece or clamp is simply held in place by a conventional screw-type terminal structure disposed in the chamber and over the fiat metal piece. The total area occupied by the clamp is almost negligible since the metal piece is thin in cross section and lies fiat on the bottom surface of the terminal chamber except for the wire clamping edge. The clamping edge is raised slightly above the plane of the metal piece disposed on the inside bottom wall surface of the base in order to facilitate accommodation of a lead wire end inserted thereagainst.

The invention with its objects and advantages will become more apparent from the following detailed description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawing, in which:

Patented Jan. 12, 1971 FIG. 1 is a side view of a duplex receptacle showing portions thereof in section and in elevation with quick wiring and screw-type terminal means disposed therein in accordance with the principles of the invention;

FIG. 2 is a top plan view of the duplex receptacle shown in FIG. 1 with the cover thereof removed; and

FIG. 3 is an enlarged plan view of the quick-wiring terminal means disposed in the receptacles of FIGS. 1 and 2.

Specifically, FIG. 1 is a side view, in partial section and elevation, of a standard duplex grounding receptacle 10 of the type, for example, shown in US. Pat. 3,032,736 issued May 1, 1962 to R. D. Howells. The receptacle includes an insulating housing comprising a base portion 12 and a cover portion 14. The outer, bottom face of the base portion may be provided with a central, longitudinally extending slot 16 adapted to accommodate an elongated U-shape yoke 18 designed to support the receptacle 10 in a standard metal outlet box (not shown). A ground terminal means 20, provided at one end of the base 12, maybe suitably attached and connected to the yoke 18 for grounding the yoke by way of a ground wire (not shown) secured to the terminal by a screw 21 threaded into the terminal.

The base portion 12 of the insulating housing is further provided with vertically extending internal and external wall portions which form four substantially identical chamber areas 23 for receiving and accommodating the power terminal means presently to be described. The left and right-hand external end walls of the base are designated 24 and 25, respectively, while the external side walls are generally designated 26.

Internally, a vertical wall or barrier 28 is provided which extends longitudinally between the end walls 24 and 25, and centrally between the side walls 26 as best seen in the plan view of FIG. 2. A second internal barrier or wall 29 is provided which extends laterally between ,the barrier 28 and the external side walls 26 at a point midway between the end walls 24 and to further define the four chamber areas 23.

The chambers 23 are closed along their bottom portions by a bottom wall portion 30 of the base 12. The wall portion 30 is shown provided with openings 31 and 32, as best seen in FIGS. 1 and 2, for the respective purposes of receiving lead wires 33 and effecting their release in a manner presently to be explained.

In accordance with the invention, the duplex receptacle 10 is provided with both screw-type power terminals, generally designated 35, and quick-wiring terminals, generally designated 36. The screw-type terminal can be the type shown and described in the above-mentioned patent so that for purposes of the present invention, no modification thereof is necessary. Thus, the screw-type terminal 35 comprises generally a U-shaped base portion 38 having three integral upwardly extending prong engaging members 39 and a laterally extending power wire securing portion 40 provied with a screw 41 threaded into the portion 40 in a well known manner.

The quick-wiring terminal 36 is best described with reference to its plan view as shown in FIG. 3. The quickwiring terminal comprises a flat piece of resilient metal 43 having length and width dimensions corresponding to those of the chamber 23. The metal piece is provided with an essentially L-shaped slot 44, the long portion of the L extending angularly in a generally lengthwise direction of the piece 43. The slot 44, with its short and long portions, forms an elongated arm or finger portion 45 having a free end 46 which forms a wire gripping or clamping edge. The finger portion 45 is further narrowed along its outside edge which forms a short projection 47. The finger portion is further formed to curve upwardly from the plane of the metal piece 43 so that the 3 free, wire clamping edge 46 is raised above the remainder of the metal piece, as best seen in FIG. 1.

The resilient character of the metal piece 43 and its integral curved finger portion 45 permits the edge portion 46 to accept and hold the wire 33 (FIG. 1) without the finger portion losing its original configuration. Similarly, effecting release of the wire does not permanently alter the shape of the finger portion. Release is elfected by inserting the end of a narrow elongated object (such as a small screwdriver) through the opening 32 in wall 30, and against the underside of the finger portion. By thus forcing the finger portion in an upward direction, the edge 46 is disengaged from the wire so that the wire may be removed.

The metal piece 43, with its slot 44 and projection 47 may be inexpensively stamped from a suitable resilient metal stock so that a minimum amount of tooling is needed to form the curved finger portion 45 and its wire gripping edge 46.

As mentioned above, the length and width dimensions of the metal piece 43 correspond to those of the chamber 23. Thus, each of the chambers can accommodate the metal piece on the inside bottom wall surfaces formed by the wall portion 30 of the base 12. The metal piece lies flat on the chambers bottom surface, and has a minimum thickness dimension such that the piece occupies a negligible portion of the total volume of the chamber 23 as best seen in FIG. 1.

In FIG. 1, the right-hand chamber 23 contains only the metal piece 43 which forms the quick-wiring terminal 36. As clearly seen, the metal piece-terminal 36 occupies an insignificant amount of space within the chamber. In the left-hand chamber of FIG. 1 is disposed a standard screw-type, plug-blade engaging terminal 35 and the quick-wiring terminal 36. The standard terminal 35 is disposed over the quick-wiring terminal 36, and holds the latter in place. This is best seen in FIG. 2 where the lower left-hand chamber 23 of the duplex receptacle contains both types of terminals. The U-shaped base portion of the screw-type terminal 35 rests on the metal piece 43 and is thereby in electrical and physical contact with the metal piece.

The screw-type terminal 35 is in further contact with the metal piece forming the quick-wiring terminal 36, via its lateral extension 40 which extends over the short projection 47 formed by the reduced width of the resilient finger 45. Thus, the metal piece 43 forming the quickwiring terminal 36 is held in place at three locations by the screw-type terminal 35. The reduced width of the finger 45 along its outside edge allows its curved portion to clear the lateral extension 40 of the screw-type terminal so that the wire gripping edge 46 of the finger is free to resiliently engage the lead wire 33 inserted thereagainst through the opening 31 provided in base wall 30. The edge 46 retains the wire as shown in FIG. 1.

The lower right-hand chamber 23 in FIG. 2 contains only the quick-wiring terminal 36 in correspondence with FIG. 1. The upper chambers in FIG. 2 are shown empty, although it will be understood that each chamber normally contains terminals of both types.

In FIG. 1, the screw-type terminal 35 is shown as an independent unit without a physical or electrical connection with a corresponding terminal 35 to be placed in the adjacent right-hand chamber. The terminal, however, may be so connected by an integrally formed and laterally extending tab 50, only partially shown in FIG. 2, if it is desired to have the terminals electrically common. If it is not so desired, adjacent terminals 35 may be electrically isolated by elimination of said tab.

With the structure herein shown and described two 4 means and methods are provided for wiring an electrical receptacle. A lead wire may be secured to the terminal 35 via screw 41 while a second lead wire may be secured to terminal 36 via its wire engaging arm 45. Both means are provided with little or no alteration of a standard duplex receptacle since the wire gripping terminal is fabricated from a flat, thin piece of metal which occupies a minimum of space within the terminal chambers provided in the receptacle. The second means (quick-wiring terminal 36) is inexpensively provided since it is made in an inexpensive manner (stamping) from relatively low-cost materials (resilient metal stock).

While the invention has been described in connection with a preferred embodiment, it will be understood that it is not intended to be limited to the particular embodiment illustrated but is intended to cover all alternative and equivalent constructions falling within the spirit and scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is: 1. A wiring device having both screw-type and quickwiring power terminals as separate components, the wiring device comprising,

an insulated housing having base and cover portions, said base portion having wall portions forming at least one chamber for holding the power terminals, the wall portions including a bottom wall portion,

the quick-wiring power terminal comprising a substantially flat piece of metal that is resilient compared with that of the screw-type terminal and is provided with a wire-engaging edge portion,

the flat piece of metal disposed in the chamber and on the bottom wall portion in a substantially fiat plane, the screw-type terminal disposed in the chamber over the piece of metal and in electrical and physical contact therewith to hold the piece of metal against the bottom Wall portion,

the screw-type terminal including an integral U-shaped end portion on said fiat piece of metal, and

the wire-engaging edge portion of the quick-Wiring terminal disposed in close proximity to one leg of the U-shaped end portion so that a narrow wire gripping space is formed therebetween.

2. The wiring device recited in claim 1 in which the bottom wall portion is provided with at least one opening, and the wire-engaging edge portion of said metal is disposed over said opening.

'3. The wiring device recited in claim 1 in which the metal piece is provided with a slot arranged to form an elongated finger portion having a free end, the free end forming the wire-engaging edge portion.

4. The wiring device recited in claim 1 in which the cover and base wall portions form a duplex receptacle having four chambers with a screw-type and a quickwiring terminal disposed in each chamber.

5. The wiring device recited in claim 3 in which the finger portion curves upwardly from the plane of the flat metal piece so that its free end extends above the plane of the metal piece.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 7/1960 Bentley 339(D) 6/1967 Munroe 33995 US. Cl. X.R. 

